A remake of a 1987 Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell film, 2018’s Overboard introduces us to Leonardo Montenegro (Eugenio Derbez), an obnoxious playboy who belongs to Mexico’s wealthiest family.

Leonardo hires working class single mother Kate Sullivan (Anna Faris) to clean his yacht. However, he fires her without justification and refuses to pay her for her efforts.

After a night of too much frivolity, Leonardo plops over the side of his boat and winds up on the Oregon coast with a case of amnesia. Eager for revenge, Kate claims him as her husband and uses her new position of power to get him to toil for her.

I tend to argue that remakes should focus on movies that didn’t succeed the first time around, and the Hawn/Russell version fits that category. Even by 1987 standards, its US gross of $26 million seems feeble – especially given the star power involved – and the film also received mediocre reviews.

In theory, this means Overboard offers good fodder to be remade, as it felt unlikely that many would negatively compare the 2018 film to the original. And yet that occurred, more because the 2018 version encountered such a negative reaction.

Which it probably deserved. While I’ve certainly seen much worse movies than the 2018 Overboard, that doesn’t mean it ever becomes better than mediocre.

Wholly, relentlessly, thoroughly mediocre at that. A long, slow progression of predictable characters and situations, Overboard never gets into any kind of a groove.

15 years ago, Faris seemed destined for stardom, but she never quite got to a high level of success. She mustered a perfectly serviceable career – better than most, for certain – but Faris couldn’t work her way to the “A”-list.

So she continues to toil in “B”-level efforts like Overboard and to see her talents wasted. She’s always enjoyed good comedic skills but here she feels stuck in a part that doesn’t fit her and she fails to exploit her natural abilities.

Hugely popular in Latin America, Derbez has yet to break through to a US, English-speaking audience. 2017’s How to Be a Latin Lover attempted to bring him to the US crowd but it flopped commercially.

Overboard does nothing to advance Derbez’s cause, as he seems adequate at best. Faris and Derbez display little chemistry and leave a void at the center of the film.

Not that I can imagine any cast that would redeem this tedious tale. Overboard follows a relentlessly predictable narrative that lacks any form of creativity or cleverness. Laughs never materialize, and we don’t much care about the characters or what happens to them.

Stretch this simple story to 112 minutes and Overboard becomes a chore to watch. Again, it’s not a terrible movie, but it lacks any qualities to make it engaging or amusing.

Overboard appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a satisfying presentation.

Sharpness looked very good. Only mild softness materialized, which meant a tight, well-defined image most of the time.

I witnessed no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent. As expected, the film lacked any print flaws.

In terms of palette, Overboard went with a fairly typical mix of amber and teal. Within the stylistic decisions, the hues seemed fine.

Blacks were deep and tight, and shadows looked smooth and clear. This turned into an appealing image.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it opted for a fairly standard “comedy mix” much of the time, though some elements opened up the action at times. In particular, scenes on the water and related to Leonardo’s boat brought out some dimensionality. Music filled all the channels as well.

Audio quality appeared good. Speech seemed distinctive and concise, without roughness or brittleness.

Music was warm and full, and effects came across as accurate. Effects showed good delineation and accuracy. This ended up as a satisfactory mix for a comedy with a few more active overtones.

The disc includes a few extras, and we open with an audio commentary from writer-director Rob Greenberg, writer Bob Fisher and producer Benjamin Odell. All three sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the original movie and its adaptation, story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, photography and editing.

Overall, this becomes a generally informative track. Yeah, it suffers from more happy talk than I’d like – especially as all involved praise themselves for the movie’s multiculturalism – but we learn enough concrete information to make this a useful chat.

Three featurettes follow, and Chemistry Is Comedy goes for 13 minutes, 50 seconds. It involves notes from Odell, Fisher, Greenberg, and actors Anna Faris, Eugenio Derbez, Mel Rodriquez and Eva Longoria.

“Comedy” examines the original film and story/characters as well as cast/performances. A few decent tidbits emerge but much of the program focuses on happy talk.

Culture Clash fills six minutes, 39 seconds with info from Derbez, Longoria, Odell, Greenberg, Fisher, Faris, and actors Cecelia Suarez and Omar Chaparro. “Clash” looks at the film’s use of Latin actors. It mainly exists to praise Derbez.

Finally, the three-minute, 56-second Captains of the Ship features Greenberg, Rodriguez, Longoria, Faris, Derbez, and Fisher. Though the credits only bill Greenberg as director, “Ship” tells us he and Fisher co-directed as it looks at aspects of their working relationship. It brings a smattering of passable insights, though it tends toward fluff like the other featurettes.

The disc opens with ads for How to Be a Latin Lover and Tomb Raider. No trailer for Overboard appears here.

A second disc presents a DVD copy of Overboard. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.

A remake of a decades-old Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell flick, 2018’s Overboard lacks much merit. Despite some decent talent in its cast, the movie seems too long, too predictable and too mediocre. The Blu-ray brings generally strong picture and audio along with a decent set of supplements. Overboard winds up as a forgettable romantic comedy.